


Alone

by Demi_jos10



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Canon Temporary Character Death, Gen, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-15 17:38:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14794956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demi_jos10/pseuds/Demi_jos10
Summary: What happens when your heart stops beating but you're still moving?





	Alone

Over the course of a century, Taako died 8 times. Usually, when he dies, he's with Lup and she dies too. The first time he dies and she doesn't, Lup doesn't leave their shared bunk for a week, at least not that anyone else sees.

You see, Lup watched Taako die. It's happened before, but only once, and she didn't live for very long after that herself. This time, though, she's still here and it feels like her heart has been ripped out of her chest.

They had gone out on a scouting mission, intending to see what the local culture was like and maybe get some leads on the Light. But the people of this plane are insular, and they didn't take kindly to two strangers asking questions. Lup and Taako were ambushed, and they fought their way out, but Taako was hurt, and they didn't get to Merle fast enough. He died at the top of the gangplank and Lup blames herself for that.

So she stays alone in their room for a week, and doesn't speak for even longer. They find the Light of Creation, but to Lup it feels like an empty victory. She has four more months without her brother, her best friend, her heart, and nothing to distract herself with.

But she makes it. She coasts by, putting in the bare minimum effort needed to survive, and when Taako reforms at the start of the cycle, right next to her where he always ends up, the first thing she does is hold him tight and apologize, for not ending the fight faster, for not getting him to the Starblaster more quickly, for every failing she sees in herself. And he holds her back, her brother who hates to show weakness, and he forgives her for the things he doesn't view as mistakes, because he knows that's what she needs.

 

Taako has gotten very good at staying alive. He survived the apocalypse 92 times. The first time Lup dies and he doesn't, he wishes he hadn't gotten so good at living.

They were foraging in a small forest near where the Starblaster was parked, and they had split up to cover more ground. He's examining some berries when he realizes that something is off. He doesn't know exactly what it is, but he feels like he needs to check on Lup right at that instant, and he trusts his instincts, so he goes looking for her.

It doesn't take him long to find her, or rather, what's left of her. This plane has a species of bug that can strip a person of flesh in seconds, but they aren't active during the day, so Lup would have been fine if she hadn't walked right into a nest of them.

He takes being alone a lot harder than Lup did. They've spent their whole lives side by side, and Taako has never bothered to connect very much with anyone else. He spent too much of his childhood being betrayed by people who should care for that to feel like an option.

He knows Lup handled this scenario better than he did, and he knows she would want him to try to make it through, but they've only been here a few days, and he doesn't think he can handle an entire year of this solid emptiness making it so hard to breathe.

So he doesn't.

When Lup comes back at the rail of the Starblaster, she sees the bonds trailing off of Taako as well, and as soon as she sees his face she knows. They spend the first few days if that cycle together, never more than a few feet apart, and no one brings it up. They know that's what the twins need, and so they give it to them. After all, that's what family is for.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in half an hour and made some people on discord cry. Take my shit and like it.
> 
> isaw7birbs.tumblr.com


End file.
